Despite having a paternity test that proves he is not the father, a judge still said he had to pay.

On Tuesday, the Third Judicial Circuit Court heard the case.

“I am outraged that Mr. Alexander for two and a half decades failed to take this matter seriously,” said Judge Kathleen McCarthy.

McCarthy says that while Alexander had been to court dozens of times over the years, she says he never filed a motion to set aside the acknowledgement of parentage.

“That motion must be filed within three years after the child’s birth, or within one year after the order of filiation is entered. The defendant has failed to timely file this motion setting aside the acknowledgement of parentage,” said Judge McCarthy.

Alexander says when he learned that he was a “deadbeat dad,” he had no income and no savings. He has an eighth grade education and could not find a lawyer that he could afford.

He says that he didn’t know of a specific motion that needed to be filed, but he made sure court workers and judges on the case knew he wasn’t the child’s father.

“Every court appearance that she said I made, I made it clear to them I was not the father of the child,” he said.

Alexander says the court also gave him an old address for the child’s mother, so he couldn’t find her until 2013.